Camborne Hill is a Cornish song that celebrates Richard Trevithick

Richard Trevithick

Richard Trevithick was a British inventor and mining engineer from Cornwall. His most significant success was the high pressure steam engine and he also built the first full-scale working railway steam locomotive...

's historic steam engine

Steam engine

A steam engine is a heat engine that performs mechanical work using steam as its working fluid.Steam engines are external combustion engines, where the working fluid is separate from the combustion products. Non-combustion heat sources such as solar power, nuclear power or geothermal energy may be...

 ride up Camborne

Camborne

Camborne is a town and civil parish in west Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is at the western edge of a conurbation comprising Camborne, Pool and Redruth....

 Hill,( Tehidy Road up Fore Street) to Beacon on Christmas Eve in 1801. A commemorative plaque is inlaid in a wall. It is popular at Rugby matches and Cornish gatherings all around the world.

Camborne Hill itself runs from Tehidy Road Post Office up Fore Street to the corner of HSBC with Commercial Street. Camborne Hill is not Beacon Hill which runs from the library to Beacon as is commonly misinterpreted.

The tune traces back to The Diggers' Song

Diggers' Song

The "Diggers' Song" is a 17th century ballad, in terms of content a protest song concerned with land rights, inspired by the Diggers movement, composed by Gerrard Winstanley. The lyrics were published in 1894 by the Camden Society...

 of 1649. But the use of the words "Coming Down" more obviously links it to song, Jack Hall

Jack Hall (song)

-Story:Jack Hall was a criminal who, as a young boy, was sold to a chimney sweep for a guinea. In later life he became a notorious highwayman. In 1707 he was arrested along with Stephen Bunce and Dick Low for a burglary committed at the house of Captain Guyon, near Stepney. All three were convicted...

 of 1707.

On 11 September 2001

September 11, 2001 attacks

The September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks (also referred to as September 11, September 11th or 9/119/11 is pronounced "nine eleven". The slash is not part of the pronunciation...

, Rick Rescorla

Rick Rescorla

Cyril Richard "Rick" Rescorla was a retired United States Army officer of British birth who served with distinction in Northern Rhodesia as a member of the Northern Rhodesia Police and as a soldier in the Vietnam War as a Second Lieutenant in the United States Army...

, a chief security officer at the World Trade Center

World Trade Center

The original World Trade Center was a complex with seven buildings featuring landmark twin towers in Lower Manhattan, New York City, United States. The complex opened on April 4, 1973, and was destroyed in 2001 during the September 11 attacks. The site is currently being rebuilt with five new...

 in New York

New York City

New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

, originally from Hayle

Hayle

Hayle is a small town, civil parish and cargo port in west Cornwall, United Kingdom. It is situated at the mouth of the Hayle River and is approximately seven miles northeast of Penzance...

 and rugby man, sang Cornish rugby songs on his megaphone to keep morale high as he was evacuating over 2,000 employees of Morgan Stanley

Morgan Stanley

Morgan Stanley is a global financial services firm headquartered in New York City serving a diversified group of corporations, governments, financial institutions, and individuals. Morgan Stanley also operates in 36 countries around the world, with over 600 offices and a workforce of over 60,000....

 from the WTC's Second Tower. Survivors have said to particularly remember him singing Camborne Hill. Rescorla was last seen alive on the 10th floor shortly before it collapsed.

Lyrics

Goin' up Camborne Hill, coming down

Goin' up Camborne Hill, coming down

The horses stood still;

The wheels went around;

Going up Camborne Hill coming down

White stockings, white stockings she wore (she wore)

White stockings, white stockings she wore

White stockings she wore:

The same as before;

Going up Camborne Hill coming down

I knowed her old father old man (old man)

I knowed her old father old man

I knowed her old man:

He blawed in the band;

Going up Camborne Hill coming down

I 'ad 'er, I 'ad 'er, I did

I 'ad 'er, I 'ad 'er, I did

I 'ad 'er, I did:

It cost me a quid

Going up Camborne Hill coming down

He heaved in the coal, in the steam (the steam)

He heaved in the coal, in the steam

He heaved in the coal:

The steam hit the beam

Going up Camborne Hill coming down

Oh Please 'ave a baby by me

Oh Please 'ave a baby by me

I'm young and I'm strong:

Won't take very long

Going up Camborne Hill coming down

Goin' up Camborne Hill, coming down

Goin' up Camborne Hill, coming down

The horses stood still;

The wheels went around;

Going up Camborne Hill coming down

External links

• Walk Through Time - Camborne BBC
  BBC
  The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
  
   Where I live webpage
• Mudcat Café
  Mudcat Cafe
  The Mudcat Café is an online discussion group and song and tune database, which also includes many other features relating to folk music.-History:...
  
  : Mudcat website
• Oldcornwall.org